ALL IN - In Awe of God
Notes
Transcript
Recap ALL IN: Purpose for the series, our connection to the early church, and where we are in ACTS (End of Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost)
For the last two weeks we have covered the description of what the early church did immediately following the outpouring on the day of Pentecost described in Acts 2.
Explain outpouring and context
41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.
42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
43 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.
Pray
Zero in on v. 43.
Explain the generational pendulum that swings back and forth as a reaction to each previous generation…
i.e. In the 1920s, Christian fundamentalism arose as a means to counter liberal interpretations of the Christian Bible and "secularizing" changes in society.
As a reaction to that came the modern secular movement which pushed for a society without religion.
In response Between the mid-1940s and early 1960s, the biblical theology movement emerged to counter both liberal and fundamentalist interpretations of the Bible.
The pendulum is then interrupted by World War 2, which is succeeded by what scholars call the “Fourth Great Awakening” when attention was put back on the spiritual aspects of the church.
In response to this religious vigor, New Age religion rises and pushes back on the Christian concepts of the day…
The New Age Movement emphasizes personal fulfillment, spiritual unity, and experimental healing methods, which develops into the hippie movement…
At this point some of you are taking a trip down memory lane, but stick with me…
In response to the drug and hippie scene, the Jesus People movement arises…
As a result of some success in that movement, the Church Growth movement is developed and suddenly the church is building bigger buildings than ever before, and it becomes a “come and see” style of ministry where the primary form of ministry happens inside stadiums and large buildings…
Contemporary music is on the rise, and at the same time the progressive christian movement pushes back against the mainline evangelical teachings in support of theological diversity, eclectic spirituality, and social justice.
See the pendulum? Back and forth, back and forth…
What we see during this time is that as a result of the strict, legalistic standards that were rekindled in the Fourth Great Awakening, the church recognizes a need for Jesus to be more approachable and begins this movement toward emphasizing Jesus as a friend…
The problem arises when in the 90s there arises a movement of churches called the emergent church as groups sought to make Christianity "relevant" to a postmodern world.
Now, there is a whole generation of people who claim to be Christian that see Jesus as a buddy, God as a daddy, love as the ultimate judge, who are so concerned about making sure Jesus is “relevant” that they would skew the biblical account of Him to make Him fit their idea of who He should be…
What began as an attempt to bring balance to the legalism that was so prominent a few decades ago has developed in to a far left swing of the pendulum that believes only in what feels good and makes people happy.
Any version of the gospel that does not accept everyone, and make us all happy is deemed as bigoted and hate filled.
But can I submit to you this morning that there is an awakening happening once again that sees this washed out, watered down, fake gospel for what it is… a trick of the enemy to keep believers from experiencing the awe of God.
The awe of God was a marker of the early church from the very beginning.
They had an intimate relationship with the descriptions of God in the Old Testament and carried them into the New.
43 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.
If it were my natural mind thinking about this, I would expect this verse to be reversed.. Miracles and wonders and signs that cause the awe, but look how it is written:
The sense of awe is a continuous feeling that occurs and the wonders and signs follow.
If you have a footnote in your bible it probably tells you that the literal translation for this verse is:
Fear was occurring to every soul…
The word translated Awe or Fear is phobos.
Out of the 47 times it is used in the New Testament, 43 of those mean to be afraid, fearful, intimidated, or frightened.
Only 4 out of 47 times is it translated as awe, reference, or respect.
This definition of awe in scripture is one that is connected closely with fear, but not in fear of torment…
This kind of fear is not the spirit of fear spoken of in 2 Tim. 1:7… Rather, this fear is a sense of awe and trembling that happens when you are faced with your own mortality…
12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
Why do we tremble?
13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
We do not fear God as an unjust ruler or an abusive father…
No, we hold a reverence for Him, knowing there is no one else like Him, no one as powerful as Him…
No one to compete with Him…
At His word, the mountains tremble…
At His breath, the seas roar…
My prayer today is that God restore unto us a sense of Awe…
Awe of who He is… Awe of what He has done…
The early church was marked with this sense of Awe…
43 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.
31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.
17 This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.
Wherever the Gospel was spread, the Awe and Reverence of God was there…
For those who experience His Glory, there is a reverent fear that accompanies being in the presence of the Almighty One…
But look again at Acts 9:31 “31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.”
This reverence is not just a fear, but also a comfort that the Sovereign One, who measured the universe by the breadth of His had also cares for us…
In fact, Hebrews says it was because of His reverence that Jesus was heard by God…
Hebrews 5:7 (NASB95)
7 In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety.
Piety - awe, fear of God, reverence…
This is the awesome truth that we serve the God with all power, whose love manifest among us, yet whose Holiness is never dissolved…
This is not a fear of punishment as John says:
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
Yet it is this same John who after writing that passage says this:
Revelation 1:17 (NASB95)
17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man.
It is one thing to understand that we need not fear His punishment as believers who have given over all we are to Him…
It is an entirely different experience when you experience His holiness and glory as if standing in a refiner’s fire…
I believe if we are to ever see revival in the church as a whole, we must see a return of the Awe and Reverence of God…
Not out of fear of punishment, but out of a recognition of who God is in all His glory…
28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;
29 for our God is a consuming fire.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
3 Let them praise Your great and awesome name;
Holy is He.
Awe of God is recognizing Him in all His magnitude… in all His glory… in all His holiness…
Living a life with the Awe of God as a regular experience as the early church did will cause you to act different…
You no longer take for granted His word…
You no longer take for granted time spent worshipping with other believers…
You want to know how to see the presence of God manifest amongst us? Recognize Him for who He is!
11 “Who is like You among the gods, O Lord?
Who is like You, majestic in holiness,
Awesome in praises, working wonders?
3 Say to God, “How awesome are Your works!
Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will give feigned obedience to You.
11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
1 O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth,
Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!
2 From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength
Because of Your adversaries,
To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.
3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
4 What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?
5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You crown him with glory and majesty!
6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
7 All sheep and oxen,
And also the beasts of the field,
8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth!
23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him;
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel.
35 O God, You are awesome from Your sanctuary.
The God of Israel Himself gives strength and power to the people.
Blessed be God!
6 Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
4 “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy;
For all the nations will come and worship before You,
For Your righteous acts have been revealed.”
1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.
2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
3 And one called out to another and said,
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,
The whole earth is full of His glory.”
4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.
5 Then I said,
“Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
Isaiah 45:18 (NASB95)
18 For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, the God who formed the earth and made it, “I am the Lord, and there is none else.
13 For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind
And declares to man what are His thoughts,
He who makes dawn into darkness
And treads on the high places of the earth,
The Lord God of hosts is His name.
Habakkuk 3:2–4 (NASB95)
2 Lord, I have heard the report about You and I fear.
O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years,
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.
3 His splendor covers the heavens,
And the earth is full of His praise.
4 His radiance is like the sunlight;
He has rays flashing from His hand,
And there is the hiding of His power.
6 He stood and surveyed the earth;
He looked and startled the nations.
Yes, the perpetual mountains were shattered,
The ancient hills collapsed.
His ways are everlasting.
10 The mountains saw You and quaked;
The downpour of waters swept by.
The deep uttered forth its voice,
It lifted high its hands.
I’m telling you, God isn’t some small, incoherent god who can be swayed by a clever argument or semantics…
He told Job:
2 “Who is this that darkens counsel
By words without knowledge?
3 “Now gird up your loins like a man,
And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding,
5 Who set its measurements? Since you know.
Or who stretched the line on it?
6 “On what were its bases sunk?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
7 When the morning stars sang together
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 “Or who enclosed the sea with doors
When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb;
9 When I made a cloud its garment
And thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 And I placed boundaries on it
And set a bolt and doors,
11 And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther;
And here shall your proud waves stop’?
It is He who commands the morning and causes the dawn to know its place…
It is God who established the expanse of the earth and laid the way to the dwelling of light…
It is He who commanded darkness into its place, who divided the way of light and who cast the winds on the earth…
It is He who maintains that which man has not yet seen, lands who have no owner but God…
It is He who established the ordinances of the heavens, who hung the constellations in the sky, and fixed the rule over the earth…
It is He who prepares the raven its nourishment and has the hairs on my head numbered..
This is THE Awesome God!
I believe if we are to see God move amongst us again, we must return Him to His rightful place as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, awesome in power, full of Glory, and cry with the angels:
HOLY HOLY HOLY is the Lord God Almighty!
Altar Call: Do you need to rekindle your awe and reverence for the God of the Universe? I want us to spend some time around these altars, not to ask for anything, but to simply spend time acknowledging who He is…
